China Releases Details of Silk Road Plans

• China has provided details about its proposed Silk Road initiatives, which would impact 4.4 billion people and, within a decade, could generate trade above 2.5 trillion dollars.
• A vision document jointly prepared by a composite team from the Ministries of Commerce, Foreign Affairs and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) — a top organization that steers the Chinese economy — has with precision revealed the geographic parameters of China’s “One belt One Road” initiative.
• The “belt and road” have two components — the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) that would be established along the Eurasian land corridor from the Pacific coast to the Baltic Sea, and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road (MSR).
• Analysts say that the “belt and road” initiative, backed by an extensive China-led funding infrastructure, could shift the centre of geo-economic power towards Eurasia, and undermine the “Asia Pivot” of the United States and its allies.
• The “belt and road” run through the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, connecting the vibrant East Asia economic circle at one end and developed European economic circle at the other, says the government report.
• Specifically, the SREB focuses on bringing together China, Central Asia, Russia and Europe (the Baltic); linking China with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea through Central Asia and West Asia; and connecting China with Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Indian Ocean.